Author: Navasardian Karapet

HEY, PAL: GET A GRIP!
By Patricia Wild

Somerville Journal, MA
GateHouse News Service
Thu Sep 13, 2007, 05:47 AM EDT

Watertown, which proclaimed itself a community where there was "No
Place for Hate," underwent an open, emotional and painful examination
of that statement recently. When questioning the Anti-Defamation
League’s position on the Armenian Genocide, the citizens of Watertown
were compelled to ask themselves, "Is this really true? Is Watertown,
indeed, a place where there is no place for hate?" I wish Somerville,
especially certain SpeakOut callers, would ask the same question. Is
Somerville a place where there’s no room for hate?

Sure, we all harbor nasty thoughts, we all secretly wish someone ill,
we’re anxious and upset and, all too often, feel powerless to change
what seem gross injustices, blatant unfairness. There have been and
will be times in our lives when we "feel angry all the time," like
Harry Potter in "The Order of the Phoenix." What matters, however,
as the young wizard-in-training’s mentor reminded Potter, is what we
decide to act upon.

When you pick up a phone, dial the SpeakOut number and leave a
hate-filled, nasty message, that’s evil talking, pal. That’s going
over to the Dark Side.

That’s you making a deliberate contribution to an already hate-filled,
war-torn world. Isn’t there enough violence, enough suffering, enough
tragedy in the world already? Why do you want to consciously and with
malice add to an already festering heap of hatred and cruelty? Huh?

"The illegals, the illegals." Get over it, pal.

They’re here, all right? They live here, they go to school, here,
they pay taxes, too. That’s right, pal.

"Illegals" pay taxes, too. So enough with the "my tax dollars"
nonsense. Do yourself and the rest of us a huge favor: Reread the
Gospels. Pay special attention to Matthew 25:35-36. "I was hungry
and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a
stranger and you welcomed me, etc." And then take a good long look
at yourself in the mirror. Will you do that before you’re tempted to
dial SpeakOut again?

Please!

Your rants about the day workers standing next to Foss Park? Those
men are standing there to get work, OK?

They’re standing there because contractors offer them jobs,
under-the-table jobs, under- union-scale jobs.

So if you’re so high and mighty, pal, why aren’t you calling those
employers, clearly making a profit off this Foss Park arrangement,
the same kind of nasty names you apparently enjoy calling people from
other countries? Somerville’s a staunchly union city, right?

So why aren’t you screaming about employers ripping off people because
they know they can get away with it? News flash: racism is not OK.

And, please, don’t think for one minute that men standing around
hoping to earn some money "make Somerville look bad." The only thing
that makes this city bad, pal, is that, somehow, you and your SpeakOut
buddies think that making your vile remarks is acceptable. You make
all of us look ignorant.

And cowardly. C’mon, what kind of courage does it take to anonymously
leave a hateful message on a tape recorder, huh? If you really had
the courage of your convictions, pal, you’d tell everybody who you are.

You’d write a letter. You’d call 311. This hit-and-run stuff? Bush
league.

A word to elderly SpeakOut callers: Did you see the article about
the 94-year-old Spanish woman who has her own blog? Her grandson
helped her set it up. She’s telling about her life and how things
have changed in her country and thousands of people read what she has
to say. Listen up, retirees: I’m sure many readers would appreciate
learning who you are and what you have experienced. Clearly, many of
you have literary talent. Why not put it to good use?

I found this quote somewhere; I don’t know who wrote it: "Children,
everybody, here’s what to do during war: In a time of destruction,
create something. A poem. A parade. A community. A school. A vow. A
moral principle. One peaceful moment."

Think it over, pal.

Patricia Wild is a resident of Somerville and the author of "Swimming
In It," a novel set in the city.

THE IMPORTANCE OF NATIONALISTIC IDEOLOGY

Hayoc Ashkharh
12 Sept 2007

"Today we are facing a dilemma again: we are standing face-to-face
with a real rival who makes appeals for war every day and threatens to
resolve the Karabakh issue from the positions of strength. Therefore,
we must have a nationalistic ideology again, because only a reasonable
nationalism can resist such challenges.

When the time comes and the negotiations end successfully and Karabakh
joins Armenia or is recognized as an independent state and we and
Azerbaijan have agreements ensuring the security of Karabakh and its
people, such ideology will probably begin to retreat," RPA Vice Chair
RAZMIK ZOHRABYAN said yesterday.

CAN THEY CONQUER NAGORNO KARABAKH BY BLACKMAIL?
By Rouben Hayrapetian, Moscow, Translated by K.A

AZG Armenian Daily #165
12/09/2007

Karabakh Issue

Polad Blbuloghli, Azeri Ambassador to Russia, said in one of the
interview after his trips to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh that
the leading Western states had invested billions of dollars in the
oil-gas economy of Azerbaijan and will never allow it unfold a war
with Armenia. In this context the militant statements by Ilham Aliev
made in the interviews to the Russian mass media sources seem quite
senseless. Aliev’s mood is conditioned by the financial factor, as the
military budget of Azrbaijan should have surpassed the state budget
of Armenia. "They should understand in Armenia that the longer the
conflict is unsettled the worse the consequences may become," this
statement by Aliev is commented as an expression of discontent with
the negotiation process. According to the recent data of the Azeries,
their Army has 75.000 soldiers, it is efficient and is provided with
the latest achievements in the weapon production. In case of a war,
the military attacks will be unfolded not only in Nagorno Karabakh
but also along the whole border with Armenia.

The weapon industry of the country is being reconstructed.

The Russian mass media sources responded to the abovementioned
"crucial" statements by Aliev. Thus, a Russian military expert and
a political expert commented on the militant statements by Aliev.

Certainly, taking into account the financial superiority of Azerbaijan,
the military expert expressed the opinion that that country cannot
really make such a military structure that would win the war in
Nagorno Karabakh. He reminds that Azerbaijan is a member of a number
of organizations just like the rest of the regional states, and it
should quit them to have a serious superiority over Armenia, which
is not an easy thing.

As for the active propaganda carried out by Azerbaijan, one
of the political experts said that after the construction of
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline Azerbaijan wants to underline
its importance and just like Ukraine they use this factor a tool
for blackmailing. Moreover, this is carried out quite openly and
brutally. It’s obvious that Azerbaijan wants to include the issue of
Nagorno Karabakh in the Western agenda.

THOMAS GRUNER: EU SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN KARABAKH TALKS

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.09.2007 16:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "I suppose that the European Union can do more for
the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Unfortunately, the
EU lacks the essential foreign and security policy at the moment,"
said European Parliament member Thomas Gruner.

"I believe that EU’s efficient endeavors are necessary for the
Karabakh settlement. In my personal opinion, the European Union should
participate in the talks.

Many EU member states wish to promote the resolution of the conflict. I
wish the EU could develop a joint strategy and become a mediator. We
have a mission for guarding Transdnistrian borders, we cooperate
with police and customs services. This variant may be considered for
Nagorno Karabakh as well. I believe that the European Union has a
greater potential than the OSCE Minsk Group. The conflict region is
closer to Europe than to the United States," he said.

"The Action Plan with Azerbaijan reflects the principle of territorial
integrity and this principle should be respected. The Action Plan with
Armenia maintains other details. It reflects the principle of the right
of nations to self-determination. Do not accuse the EU of "double
game." The Action Plans have been discussed with the partner states
and have different contents. The EU’s political wish is to resolve
the conflict basing on the documents adopted by the international
community. The conflict should be settled via talks and the sides
should be ready for concessions," he said, Trend news agency reports.

83-YEAR-OLD CANES WOULD-BE ROBBER
By Jim Carney Beacon Journal staff writer, [email protected].

Akron Beacon Journal, OH
Published on Tuesday, Sep 11, 2007

Akron man saves wife from purse snatcher

Using a wooden cane, an 83-year-old man who once fought with the Soviet
Army against the Nazis in World War II battled with a would-be thief
to protect his wife on the streets of Akron over the weekend.

Martiros Vaganovich Budagyan grabbed his cane and hit the robber
on his back after the robber tried to steal the purse of his wife,
Yekaterina Budagyan, 73, in the 600 block of West Market Street
shortly before 4 p.m. Friday.

According to the couple’s son, Vito Budagyan, 48, of Fairlawn,
his parents had gone to a bank and pharmacy at Highland Square and
were walking back to their apartment in the neighborhood when the
incident happened.

Eyewitnesses described the suspect as a 36- to 38-year-old black
man, wearing a red, yellow and orange shirt and dark jeans and a
black do-rag.

"The guy was following them from the bank and maybe from the pharmacy,"
their son said.

"He pushed my mother from behind and tried to get her handbag and
Dad tried to take care of my mother."

Both of his parents fell to the ground, the son said, but his mother
still held on to her purse.

"Dad took his cane and hit him and she started screaming and he just
ran away," Vito Budagyan said.

Martiros Budagyan suffered injuries to his right knee and a finger on
his right hand, and Yekaterina Budagyan hurt her nose and scratched
her knees, according to a police report.

Both victims were treated at the scene by Akron
firefighters/paramedics.

Vito Budagyan came to the U.S. in 1992 from Baku, Azerbaijan,
a former Soviet Republic located North of Iran in Southwest Asia,
after the fall of the Soviet Union.

"They left everything," he said of his family’s flight to America. "We
came here with nothing."

His parents, who have been married more than 50 years, arrived in
Akron in 1993.

Neither speaks fluent English, so in an interview, their son spoke
for them.

After the war, during which he was wounded and suffered hearing loss,
Martiros Budagyan worked on the Soviet subway system and Yekaterina
was a homemaker.

Another son, Uri, lives in the area and a third son still lives
in Azerbaijan.

It wasn’t the couple’s first brush with crime in America.

Two years ago, someone stole his mother’s purse as she was entering
her apartment, the son said.

But the Armenian family, in spite of those incidents, has lost no
faith in their new country and loves America.

"They are doing great since they came here," said the son, who works
for Harry London Candy in Green.

When his family arrived, he said, "everybody helped us. It is
absolutely amazing."

Still, it is upsetting that someone would do something like that to
his parents, Vito Budagyan said.

"I couldn’t believe it happened in daylight," he said.

"It could have been worse."

MAJOR THREAT TO RURAL POPULATION

Lragir, Armenia
10-09-2007 14:39:45

The rural population of Armenia is exposed to a new surge of poverty,
warned Hranush Kharatyan, ethnographer, on September 10 at the Hayeli
Club. The program of consolidation of land that the government has
launched will make land farming unprofitable, she says. The community
is entitled to put out the reserve land to sale through auction,
and the land is bought by rich people who already own large tracts
of land. A farmer who owns 2000-3000 sq m of land cannot compete with
another farmer who owns 200-300 hectares. Hranush Kharatyan says most
owners of processing factories prefer to deal with owners of large
farms, and farmers face difficulty selling their production.

Hranush Kharatyan says consolidation of land is one of the best ways
of development indeed but she said the government makes no efforts to
have it in the right direction and to eliminate its social consequences
for the rural population.

COURT BANS TRANSFER OF CROSS IN MOJAVE DESERT
By Julia Cheever

Fog City Journal, CA
ojave_cross_070906.shtml
Sept 7 2007

A federal appeals court in San Francisco today blocked a planned land
exchange that would have put a Christian cross on national parkland
in the Mojave Desert into private hands.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the land exchange,
provided for in a law passed by Congress, violates the constitutional
requirement of separation of church and state because a government
agency, the National Park Service, would continue supervision of
the cross.

The court upheld a lower court injunction barring the land exchange
and prohibiting display of the cross on Sunrise Rock in the Mojave
National Preserve in southeastern California.

Circuit Judge Margaret McKeown wrote, "The government’s longstanding
effort to preserve and maintain the cross atop Sunrise Rock lead us
to the undeniable conclusion that the government’s purpose in this
case is to evade the injunction and keep the cross in place."

The 8-foot-tall Latin cross made out of metal pipes painted white is
currently covered with a plywood box to comply with the injunction.

The cross was first built of wood in 1934 to honor World War I veterans
and has been replaced several times, most recently in 1998.

The appeals court upheld a federal trial judge’s ruling that the
cross appeared to be a government endorsement of religion and to
honor servicemen of only one religion.

The preserve is managed by the National Park Service and covers 1.6
million acres. More than 90 percent of the preserve is federally owned,
but there are some parcels of private land within the preserve.

The law passed by Congress in 2002 would have transferred the cross
and 1 acre of land to a private owner in exchange for 5 other acres and
would have established the cross as a national memorial to servicemen,
supervised by the National Park Service.

Congress passed the law after public display of the cross was
challenged in a lawsuit filed in 2001 by Frank Buono, a former
assistant superintendent of the preserve who initiated the case as
a private citizen.

ACLU attorney Peter Eliasberg said, "The ruling stands for the
principle that you can’t end religious favoritism by transferring
land in a way that maintains the religious favoritism by designating
the cross as a national monument."

The appeals court has considered several other challenges to crosses
on public land over the years.

A 13-year battle over a 103-foot-tall cross on Mount Davidson in a
city park in San Francisco ended in 2003 when the U.S. Supreme Court
refused to consider two atheists’ challenge to the city’s sale of
the cross to a private Armenian-American group.

Earlier in the case, the 9th Circuit in 1996 agreed with a claim by
eight citizens and religious leaders that city ownership of the cross
was unconstitutional. The sale of the cross at a public auction in
1997 settled the lawsuit and was upheld by the 9th Circuit in 2002.

A dispute about a cross on Mount Soledad in San Diego is still
unresolved.

UNISTREAM MONEY REMITTANCE SYSTEM REPORTS SURGE IN TRANSFERS

ARMENPRESS
Sep 7, 2007

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS: The UniStream money remittance
system, operated by UniBank, has reported a 75 percent increase in
money transfers in August from a year before which it said rose to
almost $70 million.

Vartan Atayan, Unibank chairman of board, said nearly half of money
transfers in Armenia is handled by the bank. The amount of money
transfers operated by the system in January- August of 2008 rose to
$364 million. According to Vartan Atayan, they expect the number to
rise up to $600 million before the end of the year.

The Unistream money remittance system that allows receiving and
sending money transfers without account opening was established in
2001. UniStream has become attractive because of low commissions
which make 1 percent of the remitted money if the transfer is made
in hard currency and zero commissions if it is in Armenian Drams.

POLITICS: U.S. VIEWED AS TURKEY’S "GREATEST THREAT"
By Jonathan Bell

IPS, Italy

Sept 7 2007

WASHINGTON, Sep 7 (IPS) – Nearly two-thirds of the Turkish public
named the United States as their country’s greatest future threat,
a recent Pew Global Attitudes Project survey has revealed — the
highest percentage of any Middle Eastern or Islamic country polled.

The survey, which was also conducted in Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon,
Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco and Israel, asked an open ended question:
"What country or groups pose the greatest threat to (survey country)
in the future?" Turkey was the only country in which a majority
of respondents pointed to the U.S. Turkey, a U.S. NATO ally and
recipient of U.S. and NATO security guarantees, also harbours the
second most negative attitudes towards the U.S., with 83 percent
holding an "unfavourable" opinion of it — up 29 percent since 2002,
the biggest drop in public opinion of the U.S. in recent years.

Eighty-six percent of Palestinians express an unfavourable opinion
of the U.S., the most negative response from a Middle Eastern country.

Dr. Emre Erdogan, a political scientist and founding partner of
Infakto Research Workshop, says that this is "a result of intensifying
terrorist activities of the PKK" — an armed militant group founded
in the 1970s also known as the Kurdistan Workers Party — which has
found increasing support since the Iraq war began.

The Turkish people "perceive the U.S. as responsible for the worsening
situation," said Erdogan in a World Public Opinion (WPO)/Programme
on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) analysis of the Pew results.

The "increasing terrorist and political activity of the PKK" is seen
to be "under direct supervision of the Northern Iraq Administration
and the U.S.", and the Turkish media "continuously present evidence
for this [U.S.-PKK] collaboration," said Erdogan.

According to a 2005 Infakto poll, 71 percent of Turks think that
"the West has helped separatist groups in Turkey gain strength",
and a Pew 2007 survey found that 79 percent of Turks oppose "U.S.-led
efforts to fight terrorism".

"[T]his intolerance and antipathy towards the PKK became converted
to the perception of the U.S. as the major enemy of the country,"
Erdogan said. "Before the invasion of Iraq, the worst enemy of the
country was stated as Greece or Armenia… rather than the U.S."

The 2005 Infakto poll also found that 66 percent think that "Western
countries want to divide and break Turkey like they divided and broke
the Ottoman Empire in the past," an idea that Steven Kull, director
of PIPA and editor for WPO, found "surprising".

"[The] Turks are very concerned that the Kurds are going to leave and
want to gain independence," Kull told IPS, but the suggestion that
"the U.S. is intentionally seeking to divide [Turkey] surprised
me…the U.S. has a commitment to protect Turkey from aggression,
and has never threatened to [directly] attack Turkey, unlike Greece,
which is why I find this particularly striking."

Dissatisfaction with U.S. foreign policy is not only prevalent in
Turkey. A January 2007 Gallup poll of U.S. citizens found that 56
percent of respondents were dissatisfied with the current role of the
U.S. in the world — up from the 51 percent who shared that view in
2006 — and not only do majorities of U.S. citizens see the world
as more dangerous, but large numbers attribute that to the George
W. Bush administration’s foreign policy.

A Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll found that 69 percent of
U.S. citizens support Washington’s involvement in world affairs,
reflecting the trend of greater support for U.S. involvement since
the attacks of 9/11, but a February 2007 Gallup poll showed that
only 15 percent of U.S. citizens believe the U.S. should take "the
leading role" in solving international problems — 58 percent said
the U.S. should "take a major role but not the leading role."

The Pew survey found that 81 percent of Turks dislike "American ideas
about democracy", 83 percent dislike "American ways of doing business",
and 68 percent dislike "American music, movies and television",
statistics that have all increased by at least 22 percent in the last
five years.

Erdogan commented that, before, Turks might dislike the U.S. government
but they still appreciated its culture, whereas now there is an
"emerging antipathy" towards U.S. citizens and their life style,
with 77 percent saying they held unfavourable views of U.S. citizens.

ALIEV AVOIDS SPEAKING OF MILITARY RESOLUTION?
By Agavni Haroutiunian, Translated by L.H.

AZG Armenian Daily #161
06/09/2007

Karabakh Issue

"Azerbaijan is aware of the Armenian army’s capability, and that our
army’s efficiency is high.

That is why Azerbaijan has not realized its aggressive announcements
yet. However, in case of necessity the Armenian army will fulfill
the tasks set to it", announced Armenian Defense Minister Mikael
Harutyunian.

These kinds of announcements do not remain unanswered; the announcement
of the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev at a sitting discussing issue
of the Azerbaijani refugees was a kind of answer. "We’ll never give
independence to Nagorno Karabakh", announced Ilham Aliyev according to
the Azerbaijani media. Naturally, he did not forget to mention that
the conflict would be settled in the frameworks of the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan, providing protection of the rights of the
refugees and forcibly evacuated.

Forgetting about the fact that the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh is
already independent and doesn’t need anyone’s permit, the Azerbaijani
president announced that his country was for the peaceful settlement
of the conflict.

Nevertheless, "… if the Karabakh conflict is not settled
peacefully, the official Baku will use other variants of conflict
resolution. We are able to set free our territories in any way
possible", announced Aliyev actually avoiding to use the words
"military resolution". Moreover, Aliyev seems not to want to speak
about "the fighting ability" of the Azerbaijani army this time,
and speaking of the peaceful settlement of the conflict he didn’t
present the variants of the peaceful resolution.